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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29998470">Same Old Tired Pain (There's No Plan)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1'>1Temmie_Official1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Northern Downpour Sends Its Love [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aromantic Jet (Avatar), Ba Sing Se, Bisexual Jet (Avatar), Freedom Fighters, Gen, Intrusive Thoughts, Nonbinary Azula (Avatar), Psychosis, Schizophrenia, Trans Azula (Avatar), Trans Smellerbee (Avatar), this is gonna be shorter cuz yeah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:28:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,086</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29998470</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/1Temmie_Official1/pseuds/1Temmie_Official1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The ferry ride to Ba Sing Se: Azula edition.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azula &amp; Jet (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Northern Downpour Sends Its Love [17]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1957609</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Same Old Tired Pain (There's No Plan)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Title from Hozier's 'No Plan'</p><p>Trigger warnings: Intrusive thoughts, further depictions of psychosis, it starts at <b>The rocking of the boat should have been comforting.</b> ends at <b>The wind blew again, a gust that made her shiver.</b></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Azula walked.</p><p>Her bones were tired. It was cold compared to her childhood.</p><p>It was not cold compared to the days past.</p><p>The air had started to warm, the snow had melted, but even then there was the occasional frost.</p><p>She lit a fire in her palm, warming the air around them.</p><p>This was turning out to be a disaster.</p><p>Azula turned their head to the sky.</p><p>A fucking sky bison. Azula rubbed their eyes in disbelief. It was still there. It was now that Azula saw that they were by a town. "The Avatar!" One of the children said.</p><p>Azula's eyes widened. "The Avatar has returned?" A fever dream. Azula had done so much. She hated her father. She loved her father. She wanted to get her revenge.</p><p>She grew wild in hope. This would be how she dealt her vengeance. A life for a life. A father for a brother. A father for a mother. A father for a grandfather. If they assassinated Ozai, this would be seen as a grab for power. The Avatar, however...</p><p>Well, Azula would have something to do on the Eclipse.</p><p>-</p><p>For a moment, Azula considers going on the Serpent's Pass.</p><p>It was dangerous, but Azula would be alone. Give up hope? Bold of them to assume that Azula had any hope to begin with. However, it was surprisingly cheap to get tickets to Ba Sing Se, and the ferry didn't look too bad. So Azula chose the nice and comfortable ferry instead of subjecting herself to the toil of the Serpent's Pass.</p><p>(If she had gone on the Serpent's Pass, she would have survived. However, she would be stuck there for quite a while. Just long enough that a very specific group of people could find her. A group of people that included her brother, the Avatar, and the greatest Earthbender in the world. However, by not going on the Serpent's Pass, she arrived at a tea shop and met someone almost equally important to those people.)</p><p>-</p><p>Azula was starting to regret going on the ferry.</p><p>“Agni, I fucking hate these people.” They spat, restraining themselves from tossing the bowl into the sea. It was low quality, not like regular seafood, but the food like this should have been better coming from such a rich city as Ba Sing Se. It would have been better. Fucking greedy people. Azula set the bowl down beside her, taking no care for which way it landed.</p><p>“So do I.” A voice came from behind them. Azula hadn't been able to hear them, and, admittedly, Azula had been snuck up on.</p><p>Azula gripped the railing of the ferry. "What?" Azula didn't want to see people. People were hindrances, and Azula would <i>not</i> have themselves arrested when they were so close to their goal.</p><p>"I'm Jet." Azula's brow furrowed. What kind of name was Jet? Azula turned around "And these are my Freedom Fighters- or Freedom Defenders. We've heard it both ways." Jet joked. Azula turned around. Jet had a stick of wheat in his mouth. Honestly, it wasn't the weirdest thing that Azula had seen.</p><p>"I'm Lee." They said, remembering the fake name. It reminded them of Toph, how they had tried out the name for them. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and Lee was a common enough name that it would have worked. In their pocket, they ran their finger over Toph's tile. "But you can call me Blue. She/they." They introduced, feeling just a bit brave. Blue sat right in their mind. It wasn't a fake name, it was a title.</p><p>One of the Freedom Fighters, a child with short hair and face paint, pumped their fist in celebration. "Yes! Another one!" They cheered. The other child beside them nodded, a small smile on their face.</p><p>Azula frowned. "Another what?" They were cautious.</p><p>Jet shrugged one of his shoulders in the child's direction. "Ignore her. She's just happy that we have another person who's not the norm of 'born as a boy or a girl and stayed boy/girl'." Ah, there seemed to be quite a few people like that. There was a fluttering feeling at the notion that there were more people like her, Zuko, and Toph.</p><p>Azula rolled her eyes, drumming her fingers on the railing. "What's her name?" She asked, voice softer than they intended.</p><p>"Smellerbee." Jet answered, completely serious. Azula blinked, scanning Jet's face to see if he was joking. He wasn't. Azula noticed he had a stick of wheat in his mouth. Weird. Well, at least Blue wasn't such a strange name anymore, nor was Azula the strangest person.</p><p>"Okay, what are you up for?" Azula leaned against the railing, attempting to be nonchalant. From the looks of the Freedom Fighters, this was going to be less-than-legal. Azula was intrigued.</p><p>"We hear the captains up there are eating like kings." Jet stated, eyes flicking to the captain's cabin and the kitchens. Azula knew exactly what they were thinking, but she decided to play along.</p><p>Azula quirked a brow. "What kind of kings?"</p><p>Jet narrowed his eyes. "The fat happy kind. What do you say we... liberate some food?" He hinted.</p><p>Azula smirked. "Try to keep up. I'll give you a copper piece for every bowl you get more than me." Azula was definitely going to get more bowls.</p><p>Jet smiled, the odd stick of wheat moving with the smile. "Challenge accepted."</p><p>-</p><p>Azula put up a mask over their face. Longshot gave the silent countdown of <i>3, 2, 1</i> and then they were off. Azula was familiar with ships, more so than Jet who hadn't been on a boat before (yes, Azula could tell). Azula ducked past the guards before Jet could even blink. This was reminiscent of Azula's time with Toph. Azula sighed quietly. Crime always made them think of Toph.</p><p>Azula had the foresight to bring a bag. It wasn't too far off from the layout of a Fire Nation ship. They first got the obvious places, iceboxes, pantries, things like that. But Azula knew that crews, especially ones like these, had secret stashes. Azula checked those places when Jet was turned around. Jet didn’t.</p><p>Azula got at least 7 more bowls than him.</p><p>Sucker.</p><p>As quickly as they game in, they went out. Jet snickered as he landed. Azula rolled their eyes.</p><p>“I win.” Jet stated, leaning exaggeratedly against the railings. Azula raised a brow. Jet frowned, wheat quirking. “You have a really intimidating stare.”</p><p>That got a smile out of Azula. “Thanks, I’ve had 14 years to perfect it.”</p><p>Jet’s eyes widened, weird eyebrows going with it. “While that’s concerning, I think you owe me some copper pieces.”</p><p>Azula leaned against one of the support beams, raising an eyebrow. “Really.”</p><p>Jet smirked, opening his bag. “Five bowls, Blue.”</p><p>Azula smiled. "And how many do you think I have?"</p><p>"Four." Jet answered easily. Azula opened the bag in lieu of an answer. Jet frowned as he counted them. "No." He answered. "Those can't be full." Azula knelt down and laid them out on the ground. Each was full. Jet's face fell. Seven bowls of food. The sweet taste of victory was better than the food Azula had just scored.</p><p>"I grabbed some empty ones for good measure," Azula revealed them with a flourish. Hey, she <i>was</i> related to Zuko, after all. Jet scowled and pulled out two copper pieces.</p><p>"Asshole." Jet slapped them into Azula's open palm.</p><p>She smiled. "Thank you." They pocketed the coins. Azula stood up, taking a bowl for herself. "I'll be off, then."</p><p>Jet put a hand on her shoulder. It sent a cold shiver down Azula's back, and they flinched away from the touch. For his credit, Jet didn't do that again. "Hey, you can eat with us." He offered. Azula hesitated. She didn't want their pity.</p><p>"I'm fine." She pushed them away.</p><p>"Okay, suit yourself, but we're happy to welcome you in." Jet said as Azula stormed away. Azula didn't look back.</p><p>-</p><p><b>The rocking of the boat should have been comforting.</b> Familiar, it was, but not quite comfort.</p><p>She didn't like how it reminded her of Ozai.</p><p>Azula leaned on the railing. A quick flash of <i>what if you fell into the sea? Would anyone care? Would anyone notice?</i>, Azula screwed their eyes shut. It was one of those nights where Azula couldn't sleep, nor did they want to. The night air hit their hair. Their hair had grown longer. The pieces in the front that used to scrape just below her chin now laid on their chest. They would have to trim those, eventually. Their hair was still growing out, it was longer now, a definite shoulder length. </p><p>Azula shivered. They twitched their head to the side, scratching at their chin. It felt like crawling.</p><p>Azula decided to pace the decks. Below decks felt suffocating, there were too many things there, too many variables for them to worry about.</p><p>Azula still kept their back to corners, letting themselves soak up every inch of light they could. The moon shone onto the deck. Azula watched the shadows it traced.</p><p>A scratching. Azula could have imagined it, but this one felt real. (Just like all the other ones).</p><p>Azula whipped around to face it. There was nothing there. Azula felt like someone was watching them.</p><p>Azula slowly backed into a corner, something was wrong. Something had to be wrong.</p><p>This was fine. She tapped on the ground, hoping to get rid of the sound of scratching on wood. It wasn't coming from her, but she couldn't stop imagining it.</p><p>
  <b>The wind blew again, a gust that made her shiver.</b>
</p><p>There were footsteps, Azula quickly glanced to the source of the noise. It was Jet from before. "Oh, Blue, you're up."</p><p>Azula acted like they totally meant to be in the corner. "Jet." Azula greeted.</p><p>Jet sat beside them, but still a reasonable distance away. "We're going to arrive at Ba Sing Se in the morning. You got any plans?"</p><p>Azula pondered. "No." She admitted truthfully. "I didn't plan to get this far."</p><p>"Neither did I." Jet said. He seemed just as surprised at the words. Azula was curious. The panic from before was still there, but it was being distracted by the mystery of Jet. "I... the Fire Nation killed my parents, my entire village, two years before the war ended. I was eight years old." Azula was eight years old when her brother died when her father took her...</p><p>"I was eight years old when my life changed." She whispered. "I guess we have that in common."</p><p>Jet sighed. "I was living in a treehouse with a bunch of kids... and I don't even know how I got here." Jet chuckled dryly. "I don't even know how I managed to survive, but I did. And, uh, I guess we're the Freedom Fighters now. Because freedom is a fight that is still going on." Jet paused. "Some people call us the Freedom Defenders, but I don't think that's right. We are defending anyone, we're fighting the bad guys. Whatever helps them sleep at night, I guess."</p><p>Azula stared at the rest of the dock. The moon wasn't full, instead, it was at almost a half-moon. It was illuminated in the soft light. "I don't know why I'm here. I don't know what I'm doing after this but I know that it's better than my life before." Jet didn't know Azula, he barely knew their name. But maybe they were both broken people. "Why are you telling me this?" She asked.</p><p>Jet hesitated. "I guess I'm telling you because I see myself in you. You're just a kid. You don't deserve this." Jet stared out at the decks. "I don't deserve this."</p><p>They sat in silence. Azula wasn't tired, but Jet was. "You should go to bed," Azula said, breaking the silence.</p><p>Jet smirked, stifling a yawn. "I guess I should." He stood up, an odd expression on his face as he stared at Azula. "I'll see you around, Blue."</p><p>"I'll see you around." Azula paused for a moment. "If you, uh, if you need a partner in crime, then you can find me."</p><p>Jet smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."</p><p>Azula didn't see Jet for the rest of the ferry ride. There was no time to think of that, Azula disappeared into the streets of Ba Sing Se.</p><p>This should have been the best moment of Azula's life, but Azula could tell the journey had only just begun.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>By an incredible series of coincidences, Azula doesn't find out that Zuko is alive for like 7 years. If I were a published writer, this would be seen as a huge plot hole. However, in addition to the fact that I am <i>not</i> a published author, Ozai could have easily kept her from receiving any news of Zuko's existence. Not to mention when they're away from Ozai, they're actively ignoring Fire Nation politics to keep from giving away their identity. If you find this unbelievable, get off ao3 and go like read an actual book lol.</p><p>This is kinda short but that's only because I've been doing a bunch of side projects + getting sidetracked.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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